Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've just finished reading a book called Chameleons A Complete Pet Owner's Manual written by R D Bartlett and Patricia P Bartlett. In this book it says:

"Captive females first become receptive to mating for a period of 10 to 15 days at the very young age of 3 1/2 months to 5 months of age. They are again receptive to mating about 60 days after egg deposition. Captive females that are not bred during that first receptive period almost always die egg-bound when the do become gravid." and also "Captive females rarely live beyond their fifth or sixth clutch."

My Mavis is now 4 1/2 months old. I have no chance of breeding her. What can I do to give her the best chance of survival. I'm really upset!

Colleen

The best thing you can do first of all, is ignore what you read. Most books available state that veileds will die egg bound if they're not bred when they become receptive, but since the printing of these books, opinions have changed. I personally believe that an unbred female will live longer than one that has been breeding regularly. Often female veileds will develop and lay infertile eggs just out of the blue, but it won't be threateneing to them if they are laid properly. At 4 1/2 months I wouldn't worry about it quite yet, but keep checking this forum since it's talked about on a weekly basis it seems. The female veiled I was breeding wasn't bred until she was 10 months old, long after her first receptive period and she laid the eggs fine. If you're worried about her developing the infertile eggs, the best thing you can do is to cut back her food a bit (they don't need much food to live happily) and it will HELP in keeping that from happeneing. It still may happen though, so be prepared by reading this forum on a regular basis. The egg laying process can be a bit tricky, but it's talked about all the time in here. Good luck with Mavis, keep us posted.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Thanks for that! I read the posts of this forum (and others) every night but to be honest thought I had a lot more time before having to concern myself with egg laying. It was a great shock to read that in the book. You've reassured me. Thanks.

You're reading very dated info. See the calyptratus profile in the taxonomy section of www.adcham.com. But to answer your question: veileds will will produce eggs at a very early age if overfed. They will also produce too many eggs and have a good chance of dying young from dystiocia (egg-binding).

Most experts recommend restricting their feeding to no mopre than once every other day once they reach 4-6 months of age to prevent hyperovulation. A female who has not been masted will not necessarily die but she DOES need to be provided with a proper laying site where she can lay the unfertilized eggs. My guess is that unmated females die of dystocia because people don't give them proper laying chambers where they can dig and lay the eggs. If they can't lay them, then they're at high risk for dying egg-bound. But that's true even if they have been mated.

It's also an unfortunate fact that people try to mate their chams too young and too overfeed the females. The best strategy is to restrict food intake when eggs are first forming and to avoid mating them until they are about a year old. With dietary restriction and proper management they can live a long time. But if you try to turn them in egg-producing machines, they'll die young.
Ed

Thank you for your answer. Lovely and clear. I have been feeding her twice a day (morning and late afternoon) but will cut this down to once every other day. However, how much food should I offer. At present, she is eating approximately 12 crickets (size 4) in total, the occasional silkworm, locust and/or wax worm. She has started eating the vegetables I put in the feeding cup too. She spends a lot of time sitting by her cup and I was wondering if I wasn't feeding her enough! But, as I said previously, she is 18 weeks old and looks very "well built".

I had a brief look at the site you recommended. Interestingly, they are advertising the book which you say is dated!

Your comments about a laying site have been noted. Thank you.

Colleen